UK 'has become lonelier in past 30 years,' says report

London, Dec 2 : Britain has become a 'lonelier' place over the past 30 years, according to a new research.

Analysis of official data shows the breakdown of family ties over the past decade.

The study found that more Brit people are moving around the country for jobs, thus, contributing to a society without roots or ties.

Researchers say that the fragmentation of the UK started in the late 1960s, but has accelerated over the years, according to figures from the 1971 census with those in 2001, reports the Telegraph.

Academics drew up a league table of the most isolated places in Britain by calculating "loneliness indices" to identify where people in the UK had "a feeling of not belonging".

The conclusion was reached using a formula based on the proportion of people in an area who are single, live alone, reside in private rented accommodation and who have lived in an area for less than a year.

The study found that Edinburgh is the loneliest place to live in the UK, with 33.1 per cent of the population likely to experience feelings of not belonging.

By contrast, Stoke-on-Trent was the place with the strongest sense of community, recording a "loneliness indice" of only 22.4 per cent.

The study, commissioned by the BBC, found that communities in every region in the UK - broadly split into BBC local radio areas - have become more fragmented over the past 30 years.